Irish Lions face blame game

IAN McGEECHAN has turned to seven of Ireland’s Grand Slam heroes to rescue an ailing Lions Series, but Ollie Campbell believes there’s likely to be a backlash against the Irish contingent should the match go pear-shaped in Pretoria.

The legendary Ireland out-half, who toured with the Lions in South Africa in 1980 and three years later in New Zealand, says McGeechan’s team selection will see the knives sharpened for the Irish should the Lions lose the second Test to the Springboks in Loftus Versfeld.

Ireland’s representation on a Lions Test team is testament to the rude health of the game here, but should the tour go belly-up tomorrow the English press are likely to “up the ante” and point the finger of blame at the Irish, says Campbell.